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Belcher, Larsen vie for World Sailor award

Miles Godfrey

On an unbroken two-year winning streak, Mathew Belcher hopes it will be a case of third time lucky as he vies to be named male World Sailor of the Year.

Belcher, the 470 class Olympic champion and world No.1, is an overwhelming favourite to lift the prestigious International Sailing Federation title in Oman on Tuesday (Wednesday am AEDT) after receiving his third nomination in four years, following another trophy-laden season.

If successful, he'll become only the second Australian - male of female - to be named a World Sailor of the Year following Tom Slingsby in 2010.

Fellow Australian Paul Larsen has also been nominated after smashing the world speed sailing record in 2012.

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"To be nominated for the third time in four years - from a consistent performance point of view - it's very special," Belcher told AAP.

"I'm the most nominated person in the last 15 years, so it's pretty cool."

Belcher, named male Australian sailor of the year in October, has won all 17 regattas he's contested since November 2011, including last year's 470 class Olympic gold medal with former crewmate, Malcolm Page.

He's won four world championships in a row, including this year's world title with current crewmate Will Ryan.

Larsen's nomination is rich reward for a lifetime spent designing, building and sailing very fast boats - though he admits he's "healthily sceptical" about his chances of winning the award.

The 42-year old from country Victoria set a new record average speed of 65.45 knots (121.2km/h) over a 500 metre course off Namibia in November last year.

"We've been such fringe-dwellers in the sport of sailing - to be off and do speed sailing you basically have to drop out of all conventional sailing and literally go and live in a world of theory on these remote courses," Larsen told AAP.

"We move down to the coast of Namibia and we live in a shipping container - there's no crowds or cameras, no big events - and you work like that for 11 years.

"So to be nominated is kind of a funny thing because let's face it, these awards we're going to are set up by a body that's funded by Olympic sailing.

"I'd borderline say they're incapable of selecting us in the final, but simply because we did something so astounding they can't ignore it."

Larsen was also chief navigator in a British-Australian expedition that in February successfully recreated Ernest Shackleton's epic voyage across the Antarctic Southern Ocean.

He's previously crewed boats that set new records for sailing across the Pacific Ocean and the English Channel, around Britain and Ireland and the furthest distance sailed in 24 hours.

Australia has a great recent history of nominations at the ISAF World Sailor of the Year awards - gaining eight nominations between 2010 and 2013.

But just one Australian - Laser class Olympic champion Slingsby - has lifted the title in its 19-year history.